JP2801682B2 - Collection device for seamless capsules or edible grains - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting seamless capsules or edible grains in an apparatus for producing seamless capsules or edible grains.

"Prior Art" A seamless capsule manufacturing apparatus and a conventional recovery apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a tank of a fluid and viscous film-forming substance a made of an aqueous solution of gelatin or the like, 2 denotes a tank of a fluid and viscous filling substance b, and each of the tanks 1 and 2 has a heating jacket (not shown). Film forming substance inside
a, the filling substance b is heated, and the film-forming substance a and the filling substance b inside the tanks 1 and 2 are replenished as needed from time to time so as to be kept almost constant.

The film-forming substance a in the tank 1 is heated to 50 to 65 ° C.
The tip of the composite nozzle 3 is sent to the large-diameter discharge nozzle 31 through the feed pipe 12 by the pressure from the pressurizing pipe 11.

In the apparatus of this example, the film forming substance a is configured to be further heated to about 70 to 80 ° C. by the intermediate heating tank 13 provided in the middle of the feeding pipe 12 and supplied to the nozzle 31. I have. When the pressurizing pipe 11 is not used, the film forming substance a is fed by the metering pump 15 of the bypass pipe 14 in the feeding pipe 12 through the above-described path.

The filling substance b is heated to about 50 ° C. in the tank 2, and is discharged from the discharge nozzle 31 in the composite nozzle 3 through the feed pipe 21 by the metering pump 22 provided in the middle of the feed pipe 21.
Is sent to the small-diameter discharge nozzle 32 inside.

Reference numeral 23 denotes an accumulator for preventing a minute pulsating flow of the filling substance b by the metering pump 22 to keep the internal pressure of the small-diameter discharge nozzle 32 constant, and reference numeral 24 denotes a relief amount adjusting valve for the filling substance b.

A composite nozzle 3 composed of a large-diameter discharge nozzle 31 and a small-diameter discharge nozzle 32 is provided with a capsule forming tank 4 provided below.
It faces downward along the flow of the medium liquid c.

The medium liquid c is made of liquid paraffin insoluble in the film-forming substance c, and a part of the medium liquid C in the recovery tank 5 is provided by a pump 52 provided in the middle of a pipe 51 by a heat exchanger.
It is sent to 53 and cooled to about 5 ° C., and then sent to the capsule forming tank 4 via the branch pipe 54.

Another part of the medium liquid c in the recovery tank 5 is changed into a pulsating flow of a predetermined cycle by a pulsating flow generator 57 in the middle of another pipe 56 by another pump 55, and this pulsating flow is formed in a capsule forming tank. In the upper part in 4, the air is blown out from a pulsating nozzle 6 provided so as to surround immediately below the composite nozzle 3.

From the composite nozzle 3, a continuous flow of the flowable filling substance b discharged from the small-diameter discharge nozzle 32 is included in the flow of the flowable film-forming substance a discharged from the large-diameter discharge nozzle 31. Jet stream d containing
The jet stream d is formed continuously along the flow of
Are sequentially cut from the leading end in the flow direction at intervals matching the cycle of the pulsating flow by the energy of the pulsating flow generated by the pulsating flow generator 57.

Each cut particle flows along the liquid flow of the medium liquid c flowing down in the auxiliary cylinder 41 in a state of protruding into the inside from the bottom of the capsule forming tank 4, and the surface of the film forming substance a and the filling substance b By the tension, a seamless capsule e in which the filler substance b was wrapped in the film-forming substance a was sequentially formed.
While being cooled and solidified in the flow of the medium liquid c, the medium liquid c is sequentially sent to the recovery device 7 together with the medium liquid c via the recovery pipe 70 communicating with the lower end of the auxiliary cylinder 41.

The recovery device 7 includes a recovery tank 71 provided with a discharge port 73 on the side, and a net (wire mesh) provided in the recovery tank 71 with a part inclined from the discharge port 73 to the outside. ) 72
The seamless capsule e separated from the medium liquid c by the net 72 is sent to the next drying step by a not-shown conveyor or the like provided on the side of the recovery tank 71.

The medium liquid c separated from the seamless capsule e is recovered and circulated to the medium liquid recovery tank 5 through a filter (not shown).

When producing edible grains instead of producing the seamless capsule e, while operating the other parts in the same manner as described above, the operation of the metering pump 22 is stopped, the small-diameter discharge nozzle 32 is closed, and the edible Is ejected to form a jet stream. As a result, edible grains having substantially the same shape as the seamless capsule are continuously formed.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional recovery device 7 is configured to drop the seamless capsule or the edible particles together with the medium liquid toward the net 72 as described above, the capsule or the edible particles When the coagulation is not enough, or for example, 1000 grains /
When granulation is performed at a high speed such as a minute or more, capsules or edible grains are easily damaged by collision with the net 72.

In addition, particularly when producing minute capsules (eg, 1.5 mm or less in diameter) and edible grains, the mesh 72 is often clogged, resulting in insufficient separation from the medium liquid. The use of a net also hinders separation from the medium liquid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are improved.

"Means for solving the problem" The recovery device according to the present invention achieves the above-mentioned object,
A jet stream composed of a flow of a substance having fluidity and viscosity is continuously formed in a liquid stream of a medium liquid that is insoluble with the substance constituting the jet stream, and the jet stream is sequentially formed from a front end in a flow direction at a predetermined rate. It is cut into lengths, and the cut pieces are sequentially formed into seamless capsules or edible particles of a predetermined shape in the liquid flow of the medium liquid, and the seamless capsules or edible particles are collected together with the medium liquid through a collection pipe. In the manufacturing apparatus configured as described above, a sedimentation tank is provided in a state where the medium liquid flows from the collection pipe.

The sedimentation tank is divided into a plurality of chambers or a plurality of juxtaposed, and the medium liquid from the recovery pipe flows to the second or lower chamber or the sedimentation tank sequentially through the first chamber or the sedimentation tank. In this case, it is preferable that the flow direction changes in the vertical direction each time the medium liquid flows from the chamber or the sedimentation tank to the next chamber or the sedimentation tank, that is, the medium liquid flows in a meandering manner in the vertical direction. It is more preferable to configure.

Further, the sedimentation tanks can be independently provided in pairs, so that the medium liquid from the collection pipe can be selectively guided to one of the paired sedimentation tanks.

It is preferable to provide a discharge port with a valve at the bottom of the settling tank.

According to the recovery device of the present invention, the medium liquid containing the seamless capsules or edible particles flows into the sedimentation tank via the collection pipe, and the capsules or edible particles in the medium liquid precipitate in the sedimentation tank. Then, the capsules or edible grains after the precipitation are taken out and collected by an appropriate means.

When configured so that the medium liquid flows sequentially from the primary chamber or the sedimentation tank to the secondary or lower chamber or the sedimentation tank, the flow rate of the medium liquid gradually decreases, and the sedimentation of capsules or edible particles is promoted. .

If the sedimentation tanks are provided independently in pairs, and the medium liquid from the collection tube is selectively guided to either one of the paired sedimentation tanks, if the grain uniformity or granulation state is not good, the sedimentation tanks will be By flowing the medium liquid into one of the sedimentation tanks and flowing the other medium into the sedimentation tank when the grain uniformity and the granulation state are good, good and defective products can be separately precipitated and collected.

If a discharge port with a valve is provided at the bottom of the sedimentation tank, the discharge port can be opened as needed to take out capsules or edible particles together with the medium liquid in the sedimentation tank.

“Embodiment” An embodiment of the recovery apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In addition, as for the manufacturing apparatus up to the collection pipe, the known apparatus as described above can be employed, and thus the description and illustration thereof are omitted.

FIG. 1 shows an example of this, in which a first sedimentation tank 81 and a second sedimentation tank 82 having a larger volume than the first sedimentation tank 81 are continuously arranged at the end of the collection pipe 70, and Settling tank 82
An auxiliary tank 9 is provided in contact with the end of the medium, and the medium liquid c containing the minute seamless capsules (or edible particles) e from the collection pipe 70 flows into the first settling tank 81 and the second settling tank 81 The capsule e is settled when flowing into the sedimentation tanks 81 and 82 and only the medium liquid c flows out further to the auxiliary tank 9.

In this embodiment, the first sedimentation tank 81 is divided into two chambers 811 and 812 by a vertical partition plate 8a that does not reach the bottom. It flows into the first chamber 811 in the settling tank 81.

The medium liquid c that has flowed into the first chamber 811 is temporarily in a turbulent state, but sequentially flows into the second chamber 812 while lowering the flow velocity from below the partition 8a. Flows upward.

At this time, the flow rate of the medium liquid c is slightly high, so that the number of the seamless capsules e that settle in the first settling tank 81 is relatively small, but the medium liquid c flows on the partition plate 8b with the second settling tank 82. When overflowing and flowing into the second sedimentation tank 82, the flow rate is further reduced in the second sedimentation tank 82 having a large volume. Therefore, when flowing in the second sedimentation tank 82 to the right in FIG. Most of the seamless capsule e is settled, and only the medium liquid c overflows from the end of the settling tank 82 and flows to the auxiliary tank 9.

The medium liquid c stored in the auxiliary tank 9 is configured to be recovered to, for example, the recovery tank 5 in FIG. 4 through a medium liquid recovery pipe 91 communicating with the upper part of the auxiliary tank 9. It is preferable that the medium liquid c recovered by the recovery pipe 91 be recovered to the recovery tank 5 through a filter (not shown).

At the bottom of the sedimentation tanks 81 and 82, there is an outlet 8 with a valve 86 attached.
5 are provided, respectively, when the operation of the manufacturing apparatus is stopped, or when the amount of the capsule e that has settled in the settling tank 81 or 82 reaches a considerable amount, the settling tank 81 or 82 is set.
The valve 86 at the bottom of is opened to take out the precipitated capsule e together with the medium liquid c in the settling tank, and separate the capsule from the medium liquid by a suitable filtration means.

Reference numeral 7a denotes an air provided at the highest level position of the end portion of the collection pipe 70 so that when the medium liquid including the couple flows out from the end of the collection pipe 70, the medium liquid continuously flows out without interruption. It is an intake.

Even if the capsule e is slightly soft, the collecting apparatus of the above embodiment hardly damages the capsule next to the collection, and since the mesh is not used, clogging also occurs when collecting the microcapsules. There is no need to worry.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment, in which a pair of settling tanks 83 and 84 are provided.
Is installed, with the end of the recovery pipe 70 facing downward above the middle of the sedimentation tanks 83 and 84, and a guide plate 80 is provided directly below the guide tube 80 so as to rotate within a predetermined angle range. Settling tank
The medium liquid containing the capsule e flowing out of the collection pipe 70 is rotated by turning so as to fall down toward 83 or by turning so as to fall down toward the other settling tank 84. It is configured such that c can selectively flow into one of the settling tanks 83 or 84.

In the recovery apparatus of this embodiment, the medium liquid c flows rightward from the left end in the figure in one sedimentation tank 83, and flows leftward from the right end in the figure in the sedimentation tank 84. A recovery pipe 91 communicates with the upper end of the terminal.

The sedimentation tank 83 (84) is divided into first chambers 831 (8) by partition walls 8c, 8d, and 8e that are inclined upward in the flow direction of the medium liquid c.
41), second room 832 (842), third room 833 (843),
The partition wall 8c and the partition plate 8e float up from the inner bottom surface of the sedimentation tank 83 (84) to reach the upper end, and the middle partition plate 8d is divided into the fourth lower chamber 834 (844). The sedimentation tank 83
(84), and the upper end thereof is set to be lower than the uppermost level of the medium liquid c.

Therefore, in the settling tank 83 (84), the medium liquid c containing the capsule e flowing out of the recovery pipe 70 is supplied to the first chamber 83.
The flow velocity is reduced while flowing in a meandering manner from 1 (841) to the fourth chamber 834 (844), and the sedimentation of the capsule e is promoted in the course of the gradually decreasing flow.

The medium liquid c after the capsule e has settled is collected in the recovery pipe 91.
After that, the medium is collected in the medium tank 5 shown in FIG. 4, for example.

Also in this embodiment, a discharge port 85 to which a valve 86 is attached is provided at a required portion at the bottom of the sedimentation tanks 83 and 84, and the precipitated capsule e is accumulated in the sedimentation tanks 83 and 84. It can be appropriately taken out from the discharge port 85 together with the medium liquid c.

For example, in a manufacturing device for seamless capsules or edible grains, the formation state of uniform grains and other grains may be poor at the beginning of the operation, and the formation state may be poor during the operation, but in this embodiment, as described above, A pair of sedimentation tanks 83 and 84 are provided, and the medium liquid c from the collection pipe 70 is set in one of the sedimentation tanks.
Because it is configured to selectively flow to 83 or 84,
When it is detected that the uniformity of the grains and the deterioration of the grain formation state are detected, by changing the flow of the medium liquid c from one sedimentation tank 83 to the other sedimentation tank 84, non-defective products and defective products can be separately collected. .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the partition plates 8c, 8d and 8e may be provided vertically, and the guide plate 80 is connected to a flexible short pipe (not shown) at the tip of the collection pipe 70 instead. Even if a flexible tube can be selectively directed to the sedimentation tank 83 or 84, or an L-shaped tube is pivotally connected to the tip of the collection tube 70, and the L-shaped tube is Settling tank 83
Alternatively, the present invention can also be implemented by a configuration that can be selectively directed to 84.

Other configurations and operations of the apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are the same as those of the apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In each of the above embodiments, the outlet 85 is provided at the bottom of the settling tank 81 (82, 83, 84), and the outlet 85 is opened to take out the precipitated capsule together with the accumulated medium liquid. Depending on the particle size and hardness, the precipitate can be scooped and taken out. When collecting capsules having a relatively large particle size, as shown in FIG. A basket 88
The capsule e flowing from the collection pipe 70 into the sedimentation tank 87 together with the medium liquid c is settled in the basket 88, and the basket 88 can be appropriately removed from the sedimentation tank 87.

In addition, the recovery apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented by appropriately changing or adding other members within the scope of the claims.

[Effect of the Invention] The seamless capsule or edible particle collection device according to the present invention can flow an object together with a medium liquid from a collection tube into a sedimentation tank, and settle it in the sedimentation tank and then recover it. Unlike the case where the surface of the capsule or edible grains is soft, unlike the case of dropping with a medium liquid toward a hard net, there is almost no damage to the surface,
In addition, even if the capsules or edible particles are minute, the problem of clogging does not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the recovery apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing another embodiment of the recovery apparatus, respectively, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a piping diagram showing a part of the manufacturing apparatus including the apparatus in cross section. Explanation of main symbols in the figure c is a medium liquid, d is a jet flow, e is a seamless capsule, 5 is a medium liquid recovery tank, 70 is a recovery pipe, 80 is a guide plate, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87 is sedimentation Tanks, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, 8e are partition plates, 811,831,841 is the first room, 812,832,842 is the second room, 833,843 is the third room, 834,844 is the fourth room, and 85 is the drain. The outlet, 86 is a valve, 9 is an auxiliary tank, and 91 is a recovery pipe.

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoya Hosoi 3- 24-1, Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Inside Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenichi Ikuta 3-24-1, Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-151119 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B01J 13/02-13/22 A61K 9/00-9/72 A23L 1/00-1/035 A23P 1/00-1/16 B01J 2/00-2/30

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A jet stream comprising a flow of a substance having viscosity and fluidity is continuously formed in a stream of a medium liquid insoluble in a substance constituting said jet stream. Cut into a predetermined length sequentially from the front end in the direction, and the cut pieces are sequentially formed into seamless capsules or edible particles of a predetermined shape in the liquid flow of the medium liquid, and the seamless capsules or edible particles are collected together with the medium liquid. A manufacturing apparatus configured to recover via a pipe, wherein a settling tank is provided in a state where the medium liquid flows in from the recovery pipe, wherein the apparatus for recovering seamless capsules or edible particles is provided. 2. The sedimentation tank is divided into a plurality of chambers or a plurality of sedimentation tanks are juxtaposed, and the medium liquid from the recovery pipe is sequentially passed through the first chamber or the sedimentation tank to the second and lower chambers. The seamless capsule or edible particle collecting device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to flow into a sedimentation tank. 3. A sedimentation tank is provided in each of the pairs independently, so that the medium liquid from the collection tube is selectively guided to one of the paired sedimentation tanks. 2. A device for collecting seamless capsules or edible particles according to 1. 4. The seamless capsule or edible particle recovery device according to claim 1, wherein a discharge port with a valve is provided at the bottom of the sedimentation tank.